It is clear that the BA manifesto for the 1999 general elections does not have "a single word about the establishment of an Islamic state", as confirmed by the PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali and neither does it promise to establish a secular state.

Doesn't the manifesto make it rather convenient for BA component parties to sing a different tune when addressing different audiences with regard to the establishment of an Islamic state?

With respect to this issue of establishment of an Islamic state in a multireligious and multiethnic society, the public is only interested in a definite and open stand by each component party of the BA now.

We demand transparency from BA, and not for BA to just have covert secret top-level discussions, intellectual or otherwise, behind closed doors, and then keeping the public guessing on the BA's stand on such an important issue. I reiterate my call to the BA to openly state their stand!

Let the BA practise what it preaches about 'transparency and accountability', and demand as much of itself. Or is this simply a slogan?